Advanced Technological Education . February 2025

Welcome to the ATE Central Connection! Published the first Tuesday of each month, the ATE Central Connection is meant to disseminate information to and about ATE centers and projects, providing you with up-to-date ATE news, events, reminders, as well as highlighting new centers, projects, and resources. In addition, we will also highlight an educational topic with complementary resources found within ATE Central to help illustrate how ATE resources can be used in the classroom.

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In This Issue

Featured Project: The Hidden Innovation Infrastructure: Understanding the Economic Development Role of Technician Education in the Changing Future of Work
Featured Resources: Advanced Manufacturing Technologies
Community Connection
ATE Success Tips
Did You Know?
Select STEM Education Resources
ATE Events
News & Reminders

Featured Project

The Hidden Innovation Infrastructure: Understanding the Economic Development Role of Technician Education in the Changing Future of Work

sites.rutgers.edu/eerc-hii

This project aims to recognize the economic impact of technician education programs at two-year institutions and workforce development, focusing on community colleges and the NSF Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Program. The research will explore the hypothesis that these programs create a skilled workforce and an ecosystem that enhances productivity and innovation, driving regional economic development. The study will include national analyses using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and U.S. Census, along with regional case studies of technician education and industries in advanced manufacturing. The project will develop a refined understanding of the role community college technician education plays in economic development, examining workplace outcomes beyond employment and earnings, including innovation and productivity. The study will combine primary datasets and use a quasi-experimental approach to establish causal links between technician education and economic outcomes, with insights informed by ongoing research from the Aspen Institute and the State New Economy Index.

Featured Resources: Advanced Manufacturing Technologies

From The STEM Guitar Project:

Current Guitar Models Design Files

guitarbuilding.org/current-guitar-models-design-files

This webpage, made available by the STEM Guitar Project, is a collection of guitar model design files. Files included on this webpage are for the following topics: 2019 Fusion 360 Guitar Body Model, 2019 DXF Guitar Body, 2019 CNC Institute No Profile Body, 2016 STEM Guitar Body, 2016 Production Files and Notes, and 2016 Headstock Design. Files include .pdfs and various file types compatible with AutoCAD software.

From Adopting the STEM Guitar Curriculum to Prepare Students in American Samoa for Technician Education:

Lesson Plan: Science

asterp.org/lesson-plan-science/Lesson+Plans_Science.zip

This collection of six activity-based science lessons and pre-assessment is from the American Samoa Technician Education Readiness Pathway Project (ASTERP). ASTERP aims to adapt the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded guitar building program to prepare students in American Samoa for entry into technician education programs. The project features unique lesson plans, designed to address gaps in STEM education, that incorporate the skills and knowledge required to pursue technician careers into the guitar building curriculum. The six lesson plans cover scientific concepts and skills in order to prepare students for building guitars. Each 2 or 3-page lesson plan includes an activity description, activity procedures, learning objectives and standards, materials required, references, and assessment methods. Many of these lessons can be applied outside the context of the NSF guitar building program. The 3-page pre-assessment tests students' knowledge of relevant science and engineering concepts.

From Adopting the STEM Guitar Curriculum to Prepare Students in American Samoa for Technician Education:

Lesson Plan: Robot Arm Challenge

asterp.org/lesson-plan-science/Science-Syllabus-2023.pdf

This 7-page resource, published by the American Samoa Technician Education Readiness Pathway Project (ASTERP), is a lesson plan for a 6-week robotic arm building activity. Students "will create their own hydraulically powered robot arms for this assignment to transport marshmallows." The lesson plan includes instructions, a lesson timeline, materials and facilities needed, resources for building the robot arm, and learning objectives/lesson outcomes. Throughout the activity, students will: Learn the about the Engineering Design Process, participate in a team-based learning experience, learn about hydraulics and hydraulic systems, and have fun experiencing engineering.

Community Connection

Research Update: The Demographic Cliff and Community Colleges

The United States is facing a sharp decline in college-aged students, known as the "demographic cliff," due to falling birth rates since the Great Recession. By 2041, the number of high school graduates is expected to drop by 13%, creating significant enrollment and financial challenges for community colleges, which heavily depend on traditional students. This shift also coincides with a growing perception that higher education holds less value, as college enrollment rates among high school graduates have dropped from 70% in 2016 to 62% in 2022.

Despite these challenges, community colleges have an opportunity to adapt by targeting nontraditional student populations, including working adults and Hispanic students, who are projected to form a growing share of future high school graduates. For more details, visit the latest ATE Impacts post for coverage on this research.

ATE Success Tips: Social Media

Creating Evergreen Content

When there's no new event, resource, or research to share, evergreen content can keep your project or center's social media active. Evergreen material remains relevant long after creation and can be reused strategically to boost impressions, maintain connections, and help to develop a reputation for expertise in your ATE topic area. Evergreen content includes how-to guides, educational videos, case studies, resource lists, and advice posts (things you can post any time). To make things clearer, it's helpful to think about what does not constitute evergreen content - this would include posts or content that could quickly become outdated, like current news, articles on recent industry trends, or upcoming events like conferences or meetings.

Tips for Effective Evergreen Content

Don't overuse it. Audiences interacting with your social media will quickly tire of seeing posts promoting the same blog or report week after week. Having a variety of content and deploying it sparingly will ensure it stays compelling.
Before posting, make sure the content is still relevant to your audience. Has the information gone out-of-date? Are there standards for tone, jargon, or style that have changed? Could the content just use some "freshening up"?
Write your outreach materials with sustainability in mind. When you create a blog post or develop new resources to share, consider how durable it will be. Considering long-term use when you are creating new content can save you time down the road.

ATE Central offers good examples of how to use evergreen content on social media within the scope of STEM and ATE. For more ideas on how to market your project or center with social media, check out the ATE Central Outreach Kit.

Did You Know?

According to Mississippi Today, 93% of the state's high school students who participate in dual-enrollment, go on to enroll in a two- or four-year university. The findings are a part of an earlier study from the Community College Research Center at Teachers College, Columbia University, which found that nationally, 81% of dual-credit students go to college.

Select STEM Education Resources

A few online STEM resources from outside of ATE, that you may find of interest:

Anki Flashcards

apps.ankiweb.net

Anki is an intelligent flashcard system designed to help users quickly learn new information. Cards can contain nearly anything, including audio, video, images, text, and LaTeX formatted scientific markup. Anki schedules cards for review using the SuperMemo spaced repetition algorithm, which is based on academic research on learning and retention. The Anki website suggests a few sample uses, from learning new languages to practicing guitar chords. Roger Craig used Anki to prepare for his 2010 appearance on the quiz show Jeopardy! in which he set the record for highest single-day winnings. By using the AnkiWeb service, users can synchronize sets of flashcards and their learning statistics across all their devices. Anki can be downloaded for Windows, macOS, Linux, iPhone, and Android. Anki is distributed under the GNU Affero General Public License version 3, with source code available via GitHub.

Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation

invention.si.edu

Jerome "Jerry" Lemelson was, to put it simply, a born inventor. As a young boy growing up on Staten Island, he invented a lighted tongue depressor for his father, a physician. He continued his inventing ways for over forty years, as he averaged one patent a month during that time period. Before he passed away in 1997, he made a generous gift that helped create the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. For those who can't make it to the Lemelson Center in person, their website is a great way to start learning about the history of invention and innovation. The homepage contains an embedded search engine, a selection of shortcuts for specific audiences (such as historians and teachers), and a featured invention. Visitors should look at the "Centerpieces" area, which features interactive exhibits on industrial design, the Nobel Prize, and the invention of the electric guitar. Additionally, the "Video & Audio" area contains podcasts on puppets, women and invention, and the construction of robots.

Codecademy

www.codecademy.com/catalog/subject/web-development

Codecademy can be useful to educators in two ways. First, the site does a nice job of teaching beginners to code in HTML, Python, Java, and other languages. Even spending just an hour or two with the Web Fundamentals section, which explains the workings of HTML, can help educators of all kinds understand how web pages work - a knowledge base with wide implications for various lesson plans. Beyond that, the site can be useful for educators who would like to introduce students to coding languages and concepts. For instance, readers will find eight interactive lessons dedicated to HTML Basics, another eight explaining CSS, and a full 36 lessons orbiting the complexities of Python. The interactive style of the page makes learning accessible and engaging so students will be more likely to dive in and experiment themselves.

Do you have some great STEM resources you'd like to share with ATE Central? Email us with your ideas at [email protected].

ATE Events

Upcoming Events
February 5–7	Eng	Conference for Industry and Education Collaboration (CIEC)	Henderson, NV
February 5–7	Mfg	Inspection Expo & Conference (IEC)	St. Louis, MO
February 7	Info	AWS AI Practitioner Faculty Training - Session 1: Review of AI/ML Fundamentals	Online
February 7	Gen	NCPN: Wrap-Up and Reflections on Designing Industry-Responsive Career Pathways	Online
February 7	Bio/Chem	Workplace Navigation Training Workshops - Establishing Yourself in a New Position	Online
February 7	Bio/Chem	ATE Project Talks: Antibody Engineering, NexLAB and Alumni Networks	Online
February 10–12	Info	Geo Week 2025	Denver, CO
February 11	Mfg	Manufacturing Sustainability 360 Workshop	Cleveland, OH
February 12–13	Info	2025 Hawaii CS PD Summit	Honolulu, HI
February 12	Gen	Empowering the Next Generation: Youth Engagement in STEM	Online
February 12	Gen	Battle of the AI’s	Online
February 13	Mfg	AI Strategy Workshop for Manufacturers	Auburn, MA
February 14	Info	AWS AI Practitioner Faculty Training - Session 2: Training on Additional AI Certification Content	Online
February 15	Ag/Env	KidWind Virtual Workshop - Solar 101	Online
February 19–20	Mfg	WiM Men as Allies Conference	Clearwater, FL
February 19–21	Eng	2025 NEVC Annual Conference	Hayward, CA
February 19	Info	ISACA Virtual Conference	Online
February 21	Bio/Chem	ATE Project Talks: Generative AI Tools for Personalized Learning, and Flow Cytometry	Online
February 21	Gen	CCPI-Cast: A Model Program for Enhancing Community College Student Employability	Online
February 22	Eng	MCC Aerial Drone Competition	Newfolden, MN
February 22	Mfg	"Girls Can, Too!" Multimeter Lab	Georgetown, KY
February 24	Mfg	Data Foundations for MBD - Virtual	Online
February 26 – March 1	Info	SIGCSE TS 2025: Leading the Transformation	Pittsburgh, PA
February 26–28	Gen	NCPN CONNECT 2025 National Career Pathways Network	Austin, TX
February 26	Ag/Env	Educational Resource Spotlight Series with CLEAN	Online
February 27 – March 1	Eng	VEX MN State Championship 2025	St. Cloud, MN
February 27	Ag/Env	Energy Education Cross-Curricular Integration into Core Content Areas Webinar	Online
February 28	Info	USC Spatial Sciences Institute Annual Los Angeles Geospatial Summit	Los Angeles, CA
March 2–4	Eng	FLY-ND Conference 2025	Fargo, ND
March 3–7	Bio/Chem	2025 Pacific Operational Science & Technology (POST) Conference	Honolulu, HI
March 7	Ag/Env	Two Energy Lessons for Your Classroom! Webinar	Online
March 7	Info	AWS AI Practitioner Faculty Training - Session 3: AWS AI Practitioner Exam Preparation	Online
March 7	Bio/Chem	Workplace Navigation Training Workshops - Managing Expectations: Asking for & Obtaining Feedback	Online
March 7	Bio/Chem	ATE Project Talks: Bioindustrial Manufacturing and Antibody Engineering Hackathons	Online
March 7	Ag/Env	Hybrid Solar & Electric Vehicles – Driving Student Innovation Webinar	Online
March 8	Ag/Env	KidWind Virtual Workshops - Power Grid 101	Online
March 9–12	Gen	2025 Innovations Conference	San Antonio, TX
March 10	Mfg	WiM West Conference	Seattle, WA
March 12	Ag/Env	P.O.W.E.R. – Turning Students into Energy Leaders Webinar	Online
March 12	Gen	Multimedia + AI	Online
March 16–19	Eng	Aviation Technician Education Council Conference	Norfolk, VA
March 17–20	Mfg	ProMat 2025	Chicago, IL
March 17–21	Info	NVIDIA GTC AI Conference	San Jose, CA
March 19	Eng	Michigan Mass Timber Community of Practice	Online
March 21	Ag/Env	Building Solar and Water-Powered Devices Using K’NEX Renewable Energy Sets Webinar	Online
March 21	Gen	CCPI-Cast: Community College and Industry Partnerships: Models that Work	Online
March 21–22	Info	2025 Mid-Atlantic Cybersecurity Capabilities and Careers Summit	College Park, MD
March 23–26	Bio/Chem	2025 ABRF Annual Meeting	Las Vegas, NV
March 25	Eng	MN Aviation Maintenance Technician And IA Renewal Conference	Brooklyn Center, MN
March 27–29	Mfg	MEEd 2025 ASME Mechanical Engineering Education Summit	Los Angeles, CA
March 27–30	Info	ADMI 2025 Symposium	Charlotte, NC
March 28	Nano	NRIC 2025: Quantum Simulation and Quantum Computation	Lincoln, NE
March 28	Bio/Chem	Workplace Navigation Training Workshops - Negotiating for What You Need	Online

For more events, please visit the ATE Central Events page or, if you have any upcoming events that you would like posted on ATE Central or in the ATE Central Connection, please submit them online.

News & Reminders

NCPN CONNECT 2025 National Career Pathways Network

Join the NCPN Connect Conference February 26th through February 28th, in Austin, Texas. For over 30 years, the NCPN Connect Conference has been dedicated to strengthening the education-to-careers pipeline through Career Pathways, Adult Career Pathways, career and technical education (CTE), and workforce development initiatives. The world of work is changing at a breakneck pace. Skills are evolving so rapidly that students, businesses, and communities are struggling to keep up. CORD's Framework for Career Pathways Alignment provides an organizing structure for educators, employers and community partners to design career pathways that support students to completion. Find out more about the conference on the NCPN website.

ATE Central Outreach Kit

The ATE Central Outreach Kit was developed as a tool to assist ATE Principal Investigators (PIs) and staff in effectively planning, monitoring, and executing outreach activities.

ATE Central has given the Outreach Kit a refresh with a new design and content, accompanied by a downloadable Template. The new kit is designed to guide you through a step-by-step process and helps you explore how to identify your primary audiences and stakeholders, determine the partners and resources that can support your efforts, and start considering aspects such as branding and messaging.

By utilizing the kit and template, you will make significant progress towards developing a comprehensive plan that enables you to achieve the objectives of your grant, effectively communicate your outcomes and impacts, and showcase the valuable work of your project or center to a diverse range of stakeholders.

The Outreach Kit can be found on ATE Central's website, under the Resources tab.

Check out ATE Central's Calendar Feed

The ATE Central Calendar Feed is an easy to customize tool that enables calendar feeds from the ATE Central Events Calendar to quickly be added to either the Outlook or the Mac Calendar app, and will then automatically display upcoming events of interest based on the keywords you include. You can use the feed to populate your personal calendar or to add lists of upcoming events to your ATE center or project website. For WordPress-based sites, free plugins like ICS Calendar will allow you to use a calendar feed to display a list of upcoming events on your WordPress site. You'll need to sign in to your ATE Central account to create a feed - and it's easy to change your selection of keywords to add or subtract areas of interest over time. We look forward to hearing from you as you utilize this new service and as always, we'd love to get your feedback or comments. Don't hesitate to reach out to the team with any questions at [email protected].

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